Indian university wants to ‘adopt’ villages with zero graduates

A university in Bangalore, Southern India, is looking to “adopt” villages without graduates as part of a plan to serve rural areas in the region.

According to the Bangalore Mirror, the Bengaluru North University is now aiming to bring back dropouts from rural areas to classrooms.

The report said the department of collegiate education was identifying students who dropped out and bringing them back to classrooms, while professors in first-grade colleges are now identifying statistics where students have gone missing.

“As Bengaluru North University is housed there, it becomes our responsibility to serve people of these areas and provide them with quality education. Even after 70 years of Independence, we have places with no single graduates,” he was quoted as saying.

“Hence, we are going to adopt such villages after conducting a detailed survey on the social, financial and educational background of people living in those villages.”

He said the challenge now was to bring dropouts back into the mainstream fold.

“There is a dire need in the higher education system and we want students to prosper. Efforts will be initiated to bring them into the mainstream of higher education,” he said.

Despite its poor economic conditions, the vice-chancellor said Kolar had been producing many Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers.

Scholars and writers, he said, will also be roped in to help with the effort.

“We are going to have cultural and literature festivals in sync with the cultural and social conditions in these areas.”

He said a “Poor students Educational Fund” will be created while poor single girl students who fall under the Below Poverty Line (BPL) would be given free education.